How to Set Up Your Online Store in Kenya with SilkCommerce

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This guide shows you how to set up an online store in Kenya with SilkCommerce: create your account, brand your store, and list your first product with a price. Set aside about an hour for your first product.

Before you start

Have these ready so you don't have to stop halfway:

• Your shop's logo, as an image file on your phone or computer.
• Two or three clear photos of each product you want to list first.
• Your prices in KES, plus sizes or colours for each product.
• An M-Pesa phone number, in case the plan you pick asks you to pay at sign-up.

Step 1: Create your SilkCommerce account

1. Go to silkcommerce.business and tap Register.

2. Fill in Full name, Email, Phone number, Shop name, Address and Shop description. Choose a password of at least 8 characters, and tick the box to accept the Privacy Policy.

3. Tap Continue.

4. Choose a plan. Use the Monthly / Yearly switch to compare billing options.

5. If your plan includes a free trial, tap Create account and you're in. If it doesn't, tap Continue to payment, enter your M-PESA phone number, tap Create account & pay, then approve the prompt on your phone.

You'll land on your store dashboard. Everything below happens from the menu on the left.

Step 2: Brand your store

Your logo and colours are what make customers trust that this is really your shop.

1. Open Storefront → Branding.

2. Tap Upload logo and pick your logo file. It appears in your store's header and footer.

3. Tap Upload favicon and pick a small square version of your logo. This is the tiny icon customers see on their browser tab.

4. Tap Save settings.

5. Open Storefront → Theme.

6. Under Available themes, tap the design you like.

7. Pick a colour scheme that matches your logo.

8. Tap Apply theme.

Step 3: Add a category

Every product sits in a category, so create one first. Think of how customers would look for things: "Dresses", "Baby Carriers", "Skin Care".

1. Open Product Management → Categories.
2. Type a Name, for example "Dresses". Leave the rest as it is for now.
3. Tap Create Category.

Step 4: Upload products and set prices

1. Open Product Management → Products and tap Create Product.

2. Fill in the Product Name and choose the Category you just made.

3. Add a Short Description (one line, shown in listings) and a fuller Description: material, fit, what's in the box.

4. Set Status to active so customers can see it. Products stay hidden while they're in draft.

5. Tap Create.

6. Tap Upload Product Images and add your photos.

7. Under Create Variant, type a Variant Name such as "Black" or "Standard".

8. Enter the price in Price (cents). This box takes the price times 100, so KES 1,500 is typed as 150000 and KES 850 as 85000.

9. Under Sizes & stock, enter each size and how many you have. For something without sizes, leave the size blank and it becomes "One Size".

10. Tap Add variant.

Repeat Step 4 for each product. Selling the same dress in red and black? Add a second variant to the same product rather than creating a new product.

Step 5: Check your store

Open Storefront → Theme. Under Store setup you'll see your Store slug, the short name in your store's address. Your store lives at https://<your-slug>.silkcommerce.business. Open it on your phone and look at it the way a customer would.

Common problems

• A product doesn't show on your store. Open it and check that Status is active, and that it has at least one variant.
• The price shows as KES 15 instead of KES 1,500. The price was typed without the extra two zeros. Edit the variant and enter 150000.
• Your logo looks squashed or blurry. Upload a larger image with some empty space around the logo.

Ready to start selling?

Set up your SilkCommerce store today and let customers pay with M-Pesa right at checkout. Create your store →